Clem’s up for ultimate test
® PAUL CLEMENT is relishing the chance to go head to head with “pioneer” Pep Guardiola.
The Manchester City boss brings his runaway leaders to the Liberty Stadium to take on Clement’s relegationhaunted Swansea tonight.
“Coaching against Pep is the ultimate challenge,” said Clement.
“Certain coaches, going back through the decades of football, have been pathfinders, pioneers.
“Arrigo Sacchi at AC Milan in the 1980s was one. Guardiola is another.
“What he did with possession-based football at Barcelona made him a real leader in the new age of football. I’ve got a lot of respect for him.
“He’s one of a handful of the very best. He has very specific beliefs and style. He’s turned it into a winning formula and that’s not easy to do.
“I’ve been interested in the way Pep has done things, especially in the Barcelona years. You can see in his second year at City his team are much more like Barcelona.
“A lot of people doubted whether he could take that football into the high-paced, intense nature of the Premier League, but he’s showing, at the moment, it’s working here as well.”
Wilfried Bony is set to continue in attack against his former club.
“It’s special to play against your old team,” said Bony, who has scored in his last two games for the Swans.
“My time at City is the past and I came back to learn again. We know what we have to do.”